Puppy Love
by OrganicGrass
Summary: Nico is a stray cat and Will is a golden retriever puppy. One day Will comes across Nico getting attacked. Read more to find out! -Series of oneshots by Admin Nekonii and Admin Grass
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey there! Admin Nekonii here! So i was watching animal videos and this inspiration hit me like a brick hit Jason. Hope you like this animal AU!**

 **Disclaimer: Rick owns the characters**

* * *

Nico hissed as yet another stray cat came at him, raking its claws across his body. It sent him flying across the pavement, only to crash into a dumpster and collapse on the floor, weak, bleeding and helpless. The cats surrounded him with sneers on their snouts, as if mocking him. He batted his paws at them, ready to defend himself. He was silenced with another powerful swipe to his jaw.

Weakly, he fell back onto the cold concrete floor, staring dazedly at the long intimidating shadows nearing him. _Is this really how it's all going to end? Like Papa and Mama?_ He thought bitterly, squeezing his eyes shut and waiting for the final blow.

It never came.

Instead, a bark pierced through the air, along with hisses and snarls. The tiny Calico kitten felt the intimidating presence gradually leave him and he opened his eyes a crack. He raised his head slowly to meet the bluest sky he had ever seen before.

 _Ah, what a beautiful day to die._ He felt his consciousness slipping away just as a voice cried out in his head, _Wait! Don't go!_

Before he passed out completely, he felt a rough tongue licking his wounds. It was soothing, with a healing touch; something he hadn't felt in a long time.

* * *

When he came to, he wrapped in bandages and pressed against a fluffy body, surrounded by lots of warmth which came mostly from the warm flames dancing at the fireplace. He let out a soft mew of surprise when he realized he was in a house. _Am I in Heaven?_

 _No, you're in hell._ Nico jumped and hissed, his fur standing on it's end as he heard an unfamiliar voice filled with humour and was met with the same brilliant blue sky as the wall of fur next to him shifted. Except that it was actually the sky trapped in two huge orbs. They, were the beautiful eyes of a golden retriever puppy. He grinned at Nico.

 _D-dog!_

 _Hey there, name's Will! I prefer it to 'dog' thank you very much._

 _Are you... Going to eat me?_

 _Ha!_ The dog-Will snorted, which Nico found extremely attractive. _Please. Why would I eat you Angel?_

 _Angel? Seriously, call me Nico. Anyway, what happened, where am I?_

To answer his question, a plump lady strolled into the cozy room and exclaimed." Oh good! You're awake. How are you feeling?..." She shot a bunch of other questions at poor Nico who could only mew helplessly.

Will chuckled, watching a cute, confused Nico receive treatment for his wounds. _You should thank Naomi you know. She was the one who agreed to pick you off the streets right after we found you._

He vaguely remembered the comfortable texture of a tongue running across his wounds. _That was you? Wow... I... Thank you._ He rubbed his head softly against Will's sleek body and purred to show his gratitude.

Naomi cooed at the sight of that. "Well look at that! Aren't you getting along just fine? Might as well, since we are all going to stay together from now on. " From behind her back, she produced a collar and fastened it around his neck. Nico shifted slightly in surprise at the foreign feeling of having a new accessory.

 _T-this is...! B-but why?_

 _You heard her, you're one of us now. Will smiled warmly down at him._

 _I-I..._ He was at a loss for words. _Really, Thank you._ He felt tears prickle his eyelids. He felt Will nudge him forward and he padded towards Naomi and sniffed her curiously before giving a small lick to her finger, deciding that she was someone he could trust. She just giggled and rubbed his head gently. It was a long time since he had felt this much love. Nico decided that he liked the feeling very much.

He headed back to his new friend and settled down next to him, a yawn escaping from his tiny jaws.

 _Sleep. You must be tired._

 _W-will, Will you protect me?_ He shivered at the thought of stray cats attacking him in his sleep.

 _Yes, yes I will._ Will placed a big paw over him and pulled him closer, sharing the warmth. _No matter what it takes, I will protect you._

 _That's nice...Hmmm... I like you Will..._ Nico snuggled further into their embrace.

 _I like you too Nico. You're nice for a cat._ He leaned down and bopped his nose gently against Nico's. The little kitten purred softly as his eyes got smaller and smaller. The larger dog put his head on top of Nico's smaller one and they both drifted off to dreamland.

 _Thank you... For bringing me warmth, and letting light shine into my life._

* * *

 **A/N: Adorable Nico and Will curled up with each other SQUEEEE. Literally so fluffy. Kudos and reviews are appreciated!:)**

 **-Admin Nekonii**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: HEYO EVERYONE. ADMIN GRASS HAS POSSESSED ADMIN NEKONII AND IS DEMANDING ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR MONEY.**

 ***gets kicked out of the way***

 ***Ahem* Hello everyone! Admin Grass here ^^ Admin Nekonii and I have decided that we'll work on this series together, so we'll be writing alternate chapters! We expect the chapters to be (mostly...?) oneshot-ish (so that we don't have to spend brain energy discussing). So please excuse the disparity in writing style ^^;;;**

 **Enough rambling. Read on!**

* * *

Within the first few days of his new residence, Nico had come to learn that Naomi Solace was terrible at giving names.

Will had informed him that on the first day, Naomi had spent hours scrutinizing the sleeping cat for any identifying marks that could conveniently solve her conundrum. She'd, of course, been answered with a whole lot of scars that would _not_ make a pretty name, as well as the fact that some spots of Nico's fur looked like they'd been stained by large blobs of black ink. And the name _Black Hole_ just wouldn't do.

On the second day, she'd spent the day at the bookstore, flipping through books in the pet-naming section (why was there even a section for _that_?), leafing through piles of books advising all sorts of sappy cat names like _Buttercup_ or _Whiskers_. Heck, she'd even considered _Garfield_ for a brief moment out of sheer desperation, and that was when Nico decided he'd have to take things into his own hands - paws, whatever - by threatening the continued existence of the books. The shopkeeper, who had no intention to let his books end up in more pieces than one, had been sufficient reason for them to leave.

Of course, Nico couldn't do anything but mew helplessly whenever Naomi would shake her head and ask, _Oh, why couldn't you just tell me your name?_ He watched the poor lady wade from one method to another, just for the simple sake of naming a stray cat. In the process, however, Nico had learnt that Naomi wasn't too creative in naming Will, either.

 _Sunshine_. Of all the names she could choose, she chose _Sunshine_.

Will had been lucky. It just so happened that Naomi had named him in the pet shop the instant she got him, giving the shopkeeper the chance to inform her that the dog's name was, in fact, Will (Oh, _why_ did she have to change it?). Still, it didn't stop her from calling Will by his old name from time to time.

To that, Nico had felt a huge surge of relief and amusement. Relief because Nico felt a vague sense of reassurance that even if he ended up with some stupid name (like _Fluffy_ ), the dog couldn't do so much as to laugh at him for it. Amusement because - well, just because it suited Will _so well._ The cat had quickly picked up the nickname, much to Will's significant annoyance.

Today, Naomi had resorted to a trip to the supermarket in hope of food-inspired names ("they're well behaved, _really_." Fortunately the manager had taken a liking to Will). Pairs of amused eyes fell upon the - cat lady? Dog lady? Perhaps Nico would just have to classify her as a generic pet lady - as she held up a box of spaghetti next to Nico's face, comparing the two as though she couldn't tell the difference.

As she disappointedly set down the box into her shopping cart while moving on to the next aisle, Nico shifted in Naomi's arm. _Hey, Sunshine._

Will shot him a flat look. _Ha-ha. Joke's three days old._

 _Do you think there's any way to tell her what my name is?_

Will shrugged. _You could make her a snow angel. Maybe she'll get it._ Will looked at the cat smugly. _Get it? Snow angel? Angel? HAHAHA._

Nico ignored him for the rest of the shopping trip.

* * *

The shopping trip, of course, had proven to be futile.

Naomi sighed defeatedly, pouring a bowl of milk for Nico and another bowl of dog food for Will. She settled down in her couch beside her pets, looking at the cat like he was one of the world's greatest paradoxes.

Nico could've sworn that Will didn't even take ten seconds to finish his food. He bounded towards Nico, carrying along an overturned bowl and leaving an inconsiderate trail of food crumbs. Then he sat there and looked pointedly at Nico's bowl of milk.

Nico glared at the dog. _You're not having it._

 _Come on, don't be so cold! Here, have some puppy eyes._

 _What the heck?_

Nico found himself staring into a pair of wide, shimmering blue eyes. He couldn't tear his eyes away and thus, it grew more and more impossible to refuse by each passing second.

When Will decided to cuddle himself against Nico's fur, he could practically feel his resolve crumbling into insalvageable pieces.

Nico sighed inwardly. _Aren't some dogs lactose-intolerant?_

 _...What?_

 _Lactose-intolerant. Lactose is something found in milk, and some dogs can't take it. It'll make them puke._

Will scratched himself restlessly. _I think there's a dog down the street...Frank? He can't take milk._ His face brightened up. _But I'm sure I can! Hey, I'm willing to take the risk._

The two played a redundant game of tug-of-war with their eyes (it lasted for bare seconds). Nico reluctantly shuffled his bowl over. _I'm not responsible of you die, alright?_

Will gave Nico a huge, bright smile. Nico pretended not to see.

Meanwhile, Naomi crooned softly. "Aw, aren't you a little angel? ...wait, why don't I just call you _Angel_?"

Nico also pretended not to see Will's expression to that.

* * *

Within a mere 3 hours of his new name, Nico decided that Will did a much better job at being a significant annoyance. _Hey Angel, let's make some snow_ Angels _in winter! Hey, don't you think this slope is tilted at a pretty steep angel? Whoops, I meant_ angle _. Hey, you don't really know the answer to that question, do you? You're just_ winging _it._

Of course, Will also had to rub it in his face that he had, in fact, called Nico 'Angel' before. Although Nico didn't understand (or _want_ to understand) how that was a victory worth rubbing in his face.

Nico was desperate for anything that could free him of this presumably endless, undoubtedly torturous, pun-filled curse of the dog. Preferably, something that didn't involve changing his name to something even worse.

At last, whoever up there that overlooked the mental welfare of cats finally decided to bestow pity on Nico a _full day later_ (maybe stray cats didn't have as much priority as other cats when it came to application for help in life-or-death situations. Or was it because every call made by a cat was a catcall? Goodness, he'd have to act fast if he didn't want Will to think of that one).

The solution first came to him early in the morning, when Naomi had just gotten her papers. Nico wouldn't have noticed anything if the paper hadn't drifted down to him by accident while Naomi went to fetch another cup of coffee. Scanning through the text, he finally realised that his desperate call for assistance had been answered.

From the headlines, he carefully ripped out the _Nico_ out of _Nicole_ (sorry, Nicole) and tore himself a piece of duct tape (how did that thing even work? Nico wasted quite a lot of precious time on that), then quickly went to Naomi in the kitchen. Out of curiousity, Will also followed.

Nico mewed loudly at Naomi's feet until he got her attention. Then he taped the word _Nico_ to his face. He sincerely hoped that the highly embarrassing gesture would be worth the effort, in the equally highly reasonable fear of more of Will's unbearable (undoggable?) puns.

Naomi's face scrunched up in confusion, but it soon turned into a look of pleasant surprise. "Nico. That's your name, isn't it? Why, aren't you a smart one? Nico the Angel."

Nico hopped onto the counter and thrust the spaghetti box in Naomi's face, the side with instructions of a foreign language facing out.

"Italian? So... _Nico di Angelo_?"

Nico mentally heaved a huge sigh of relief as he purred contentedly against Naomi's leg. Naomi chuckled and gently pet him.

Slightly begrudgingly, he'd allowed Will to envelope him in warmth, too.

* * *

That evening, Will bounded to him with his dog food arranged in shapes of angels.

* * *

 **A/N: Nico can read. He's a very smart cat. And Frank has lactose intolerance. Just the usual.**

 **Watch out for Admin Nekonii's post next chapter! ( ´▽｀)**

 **-Admin Grass**

 **P.S. The Significant Annoyance pun was _very_ intentional.**


End file.
